As the latest sign that Denmark believes it has the insidious coronavirus under control, this piece of breaking news hit the media yesterday: Government gives green light to high school graduation joyride (DK). You may recall that, as I reported a couple of weeks ago, at a debate about the government’s handling of the pandemic (DK), the leaders of the parliamentary parties discussed this graduation tradition:
Some people say Danish teenagers are spoiled. There is a tradition here that just after their graduation ceremony, gymnasium (high school) students are drawn around town in a large open trailer, cheering and honking, stopping at their homes for snacks, and drinking and partying long into the night. There has been some concern that this year’s graduates may not be able to enjoy the custom because of the epidemic and the increased risk of its spreading under those conditions.
At the political debate on Thursday, several of the party leaders expressed a wish that this graduating class not miss out on this rich tradition (DK), even if it was borderline unadvisable because of the difficulty of following hygienic guidelines when drunk. One of them, Josephine Fock of the small Alternative Party, made the heretical suggestion that the rides could be held without drinking. After the debate, however, Fock clarified in a tweet (DK) that she had meant it only as an alternative if the rides would otherwise be disallowed and that she also preferred that they take place “WITH alcohol.”
Are these kids being indulged? Only yesterday, I wrote about a group of high school students who took a trip to Sweden despite the government’s travel restrictions and exposed their classmates to their infections (DK). The mayor’s response: Don’t scold them – help them.
Had their hearts set on it
After thorough deliberation, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Thiel, the Minister for Children and Education, could announce, “I have the incomprehensibly good news for students that, yes, they may ride in the trailers.” There was broad support for the decision across party lines.
There will be some modifications to the graduation ceremony, however. Instead of the entire graduating class gathering in an auditorium to receive their diplomas, the diplomas will be awarded in smaller class units of about 30 students each. “As a government and a parliament, we had to consider the total package,” explained Rosenkrantz-Theil, “and we know from the students themselves that the most important aspect has been the trailer ride.”
Turns Health Authority’s advice on its head
This plan is actually the opposite of the recommendation from the Health Authority, which would allow the ceremony with all the graduates but would prohibit the ride. Rosenkrantz-Thiel stressed, however, that the tradition of jumping into fountains around the city and large parties with several smaller classes together would not be allowed. Negotiations about other details of the proceedings are under way.
Other MPs endorsed the decision: It is “totally extremely important for the young people” to ride around, said Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl of the Danish People’s Party. “Now the Health Authority must put on its work clothing and formulate some guidelines for how it can take place in a sensible way,” said Ellen Trane Nørby of the Liberal Party.
The main ingredient
The big question was then whether alcohol would be permitted. As Rozencrantz-Thiel put it, it is important for Parliament that “the young are allowed to be young. . . . So it will be with alcohol, but with slightly different guidelines than normal.”
The students themselves were of course pleased. (DK). “We are young, of course,” said Oliver Asmund Bornemann, chair of the Confederation of Commerce Students. “And we must be allowed to be. That also entails drinking alcohol and kissing on the graduation trailer.”
The good news couldn’t keep going forever. The infections and deaths have been declining steadily for six weeks; the country just saw its first day without a single death; the relaxation of restrictions is proceeding on schedule. But the virus has not been eradicated. The new policy of systematic contact tracing may be responsible for the latest discovery. Yesterday, the urology surgery ward at Lillebælt Hospital in the provincial town of Vejle had to close after a large outbreak (DK).
Last week two patients in the ward tested positive, and tracing showed that a total of seven patients and 14 employees in the ward were also positive. The hospital tested 120 patients who had been in contact with the ward in the preceding week, and five tested positive. Most of the infected persons have only mild symptoms. Thirteen of the infected employees have been sent home for self-quarantine and one has been hospitalized.
The bug beats the tests
The patients had tested negative before they were admitted, as had the many of the employees on their first test, said Mads Koch Hansen, the medical director of the hospital, who maintains that hospital had followed all of the relevant guidelines: “We can say who was the first to show symptoms and how early we identified the infection, but we cannot confirm it [the beginning of the infection]. . . . This shows how tricky an illness we’re dealing with when people can be infected without testing positive.”
Hospitals in the Southern Denmark Region had begun to return to ordinary operations because of the low number of covid-19 cases. After this episode, they will reconsider their procedures. The ward in Lillebælt Hospital will reopen tomorrow after it finishes conducting a thorough cleaning.
No second wave here
People had otherwise become optimistic about reopening businesses and resuming other activities. The day before, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had said in an interview (DK) that she did not expect that Denmark would need to conduct another lockdown in the autumn, when some researchers are predicting a second wave of the illness. The country had now developed an infrastructure that enables it to react quickly to new outbreaks, she said. Frederiksen has also become open to the possibility of differentiating the restrictions and reopening by region because of the large geographic differences in the spread of the virus, which has been concentrated primarily in Greater Copenhagen.
Entitled to binge
Some people say Danish teenagers are spoiled. There is a tradition here that just after their graduation ceremony, gymnasium (high school) students are drawn around town in a large open trailer, cheering and honking, stopping at their homes for snacks, and drinking and partying long into the night. There has been some concern that this year’s graduates may not be able to enjoy the custom because of the epidemic and the increased risk of its spreading under those conditions.
At the political debate on Thursday, several of the party leaders expressed a wish that this graduating class not miss out on this rich tradition (DK), even if it was borderline unadvisable because of the difficulty of following hygienic guidelines when drunk. One of them, Josephine Fock of the small Alternative Party, made the heretical suggestion that the rides could be held without drinking. After the debate, however, Fock clarified in a tweet (DK) that she had meant it only as an alternative if the rides would otherwise be disallowed and that she also preferred that they take place “WITH alcohol.”
